The Dark Emperor of the Sith
by Darth Dreadwar
Summary: The most powerful Sith Lord in galactic history is transported into the past to become the greatest threat the Knights of the Old Republic have ever faced.
1. Prologue: Force Storm

**The Dark Emperor of the Sith**

Disclaimer: Star Wars, and all its characters are the sole property of George Lucas.

Title: The Dark Emperor of the Sith  
Author: Darth Nemesis  
Timeframe: AU, Dark Empire for Prologue, Knights of the Old Republic for rest of story  
Genre: Adventure/Sci-Fi  
Characters: Palpatine, Revan, the rest of the KOTOR cast.

Summary: This story is an Alternative Universe in which the Force Storm Palpatine unleashes at the end of the Dark Empire does not destroy him, but transports him four thousand years back in time.

**Prologue: Force Storm  
**

"Curse you, Skywalkers!"

The most powerful Sith Lord that ever lived, the thing born of the dark side of the Force itself and the twisted experiments of Darth Plagueis, laid down a curse upon the Skywalker bloodline. When Darth Maul screamed obscenities at his Jedi foes as they hacked at each other, nothing had happened. When Darth Vader shouted doom at the Jedi he hunted relentlessly, nothing had happened. Yet when Emperor Palpatine cursed the Skywalkers who had _dared_ to defy _him_, the universe responded. The Force twisted and bent to Palpatine's will. The curse was real and powerful; it would haunt the Skywalker family long after the dark tyrant's apparent death on the bridge of the gargantuan Super Star Destroyer _Eclipse_. Such was the measure of Palpatine's power, and Luke Skywalker was... afraid.

Luke had been smothered in waves of darkness, his mind battered by Palpatine's will, corrupted almost to the point of no return. Yet Leia had reached out to him, through the veil of shadow that hid the mind of a Jedi, a servant of the light. Luke Skywalker in that moment had abandoned fear... for himself. Yet his sister, and her unborn child, remained beside him, and although that filled him with hope and strength, he was afraid for their safety. Would even three Skywalkers be a match for the nexus of dark side power that was Palpatine?

Luke had no time to contemplate the thought as Palpatine raised a hand toward him.

The Force shook.

A wave of pure dark side energy, burning with cold fire, exploded from Palpatine's outstretched hand, arrayed in forks of lightning that appeared as black tendrils in the Force. The evil of the Emperor struck Luke right in the chest. His lightsaber was no use against Palpatine's malevolence as he fell to the floor in agony.

_PAIN!_

_PAIN!_

_PAIN!_

His every nerve screamed. His mind was overwhelmed by the fire consuming him. He could feel his life force ebbing away...

And then the attack stopped. And Luke realized it had only been a fraction of a second since he had been standing facing the Master of the Bogan. And now Palpatine stood over him, his black robes a cloud of darkness rising around as if to choke the Jedi that now lied at the Emperor's feet. Palpatine's face was a semblance of angelic youth, yet the eyes... they were a sickly yellow, glowing feverishly, as Palpatine spewed hatred.

"I'll tell you the truth about your father," Palpatine hissed. "The great Darth Vader was a sick man in an iron mask! Yes, that mask inspired terror throughout the galaxy, but the feeble heart within was forever possessed by the impotent side of the Force!"

Palpatine continued relentlessly, weaving temptation in Luke's thoughts. "You can be far stronger than he was! Dark Jedi! Are you going to let your weak sister get the better of you?"

Palpatine needed Luke to break. Luke was the ultimate apprentice, the ultimate executor of the Emperor's will. He would live in Skywalker blood - first Leia's child, and then their children - and live as the Master of the Universe and God of the Dark Side forever and ever. Luke could not escape his grasp as had his father. Luke must turn Leia and in doing so ensure the Emperor's eternal domination.

"Get up!" Palpatine spat. "I can give you the power to break her! You will kill your sister if I ask for it!" Palpatine meant it. His mental powers had grown to unprecedented levels.

Now was the One Point. The moment which would decide the fate of a galaxy.

And Luke did not falter.

"No."

Luke rose from the ground, his lightsaber leaping into his hand.

"I made a big mistake," Luke said. "I thought I had to save the galaxy all by myself, but the way of the Jedi is not a solitary path. Many have died defending the truth. Many are together in this great war. Together in the Force!"

Luke stood by his sister as he ignited his lightsaber.

"My ally is the Force," Luke continued. "Through the strength of the Force, your shroud of evil has been lifted from my mind."

Cold fury filled Palpatine as he realized Luke was lost to him. Nothing could turn the boy back from the pitiful embrace of the light.

"So be it," he hissed. "Then through the power of the Force you will die!"

Palpatine's fury manifested in the form of dark side lightning running up the energy blade that had flared from his own lightsaber trophy. Palpatine surged forth like a hurricane, great arcs of lightning surrounding him in a halo of dark power as he swung his lightsaber towards Luke.

For a brief moment, all was a maelstrom of hissing energy blades and the Dark Force unleashed. And then Palpatine's hand fell away, still grasping his lightsaber trophy.

Luke lowered his blade towards Palpatine. "Now, Your Highness, we will escort you to the Alliance base," Luke said. "You will be interrogated and you will surrender the galaxy to the New Republic."

Palpatine laughed.

"You fool," he said, his voice filled with mirth. "Imbecile that you are, you have still failed to understand my power. Look below, Jedi. Look what is happening to your pitiful moon!"

With mounting anguish, Luke and Leia watched as the Emperor's rage took form as a great storm of Force energy that tore the fabric of space and time. The dark magic of the Sith incinerated a thousand ships of the New Republic above Pinnacle Moon.

"I've played along with your Jedi dueling games long enough," Palpatine said. "Now you will experience my full potency. I live as energy. I am the dark side!"

His voice rang with triumph as the Force Storm he had created killed uncounted brave warriors.

"Listen to me, Leia. We can stop him!" Luke called out above the roar of twisted lightning swirling around Palpatine. "I've read his dark books. According to his own word, he has awakened a chaos even he cannot control!" Luke turned to his sister.

"Join your Jedi power to mine, Leia."

Leia smiled. "I already have, Luke. Haven't you sensed it?"

Luke and Leia stood side by side, and closed their eyes. Even the unborn child within Leia's womb, who would one day be called Anakin, joined his power to them. The light of the three ignited like the stars. The luminous power surrounded the dark nexus that was Emperor Palpatine.

With all of his hatred funneled into the death storm, the Sith Lord was caught off guard by the invisible wave of life energy that surged over him, that seperated him from the chaos he had unleashed. Enveloped in light, Palpatine suddenly found himself unable to control the dark power.

The cataclysmic storm turned against its maker. As Luke and Leia fled, the hole in space and time tunneled forward.

Palpatine was consumed in his own power. The storm burnt through the hull and ensnared him. And all was white...


	2. 3,556 BBY

Alright guys, new chapter! Things will be getting interesting. ; )

BTW I've changed my pen name to Darth Dreadwar; my Darth Nemesis account is an old one.

**Imperial warlord:** Thank you so much for reviewing! :) I'm glad you found it interesting.

**Inverness:** I'm glad I've caught your interest. I've read many Revan-time-travels-to-movie-era stories, but never anything the opposite way round. And here's the second chapter. Thanks so much for reviewing! :)

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**3,556 BBY**

Fear rose like the cloud of consuming energies that swirled around him to choke Emperor Palpatine.

Fear, for he believed it to be the end.

Fear, for caught in the chaos of nothingness that was the dark side of the Force unleashed, he could not transfer his essence to another clone on Byss.

Fear, for he thought surely he would be trapped in the madness beyond death, screaming in impotent rage forever, until he was nothing but a sliver of a thought to be claimed by the eternal void.

Palpatine was caught in the vortex of his own power. The energies whirled around him madly; he could feel the tear in the fabric of space and time into which he was falling.

He fell forever.

He fell for days and days until time was meaningless to him. Any mental awareness seemed to be slipping away. He was trapped in limbo.

_Am I already in Chaos?_ he thought.

The dark side always had its ultimate price. It gave power, sometimes Palpatine even thought it whispered to him. Palpatine would meditate and grip the violent energies of the void. It would hurt and Palpatine would scream. His meditations were never restful, nor rejuvenating in any normal sense of the word. But they were empowering; his eyes would always open, glowing a sicklier yellow, shining with triumph.

Yet the dark side also demanded the return of the power it had given. It would take. It would decay the flesh. And ultimately when the body failed ones essence would suffer in its eternal embrace forever.

Palpatine had cheated death and escaped the ultimate doom of the dark side again and again.

But this time...

_I am ended._

Yet suddenly the energies around him seemed to thin. They swirled even more chaotically than before. Palpatine sensed something approaching. There was a final blast of white light and then Palpatine hit the ground. The energies disappeared, and he was left lying on a hard, metal surface.

For a brief second confusion gripped him. And then dark delight filled his mind like a disease as he realized he was not dead, not trapped in the eternal, hungering void of the dark side. The dark's power was still his to command; he could feel it!

Palpatine had never felt so relieved before in his life. He was alive, and powerful, as powerful as before.

Palpatine summoned the Force and stood upright to survey his surroundings. He was standing in a cold, grey, metal corridor. Around him stood four people, all equally amazed. One was talking in hushed tones to another, who himself was pointing in Palpatine's direction. There was a Twi'lek, mouth wide open. And away from the rest stood an arrogant looking human in a grey uniform, who, to Palpatine's surprise, was gripping a lightsaber hilt clipped to his belt.

Palpatine instantly came to the realization that the Force storm, the rift in space and time that it was, had transported him elsewhere.

And as Palpatine felt a thrilling rush of cold power rising around him, he knew where. Only one place in the galaxy could be so strong with the dark side.

_Korriban._

He was on the ancestral homeworld of the Sith. Perhaps he had instinctively reached out to the dark side nexus as an anchor to pull him out of the Force storm.

But, Palpatine thought, Korriban is a desolate tombworld. A brief mental probing revealed many, many lifeforms around him. A quick check over his shoulder revealed the corridor opening out into a landing bay for a freighter, around which crew members and several more uniformed men crowed around. Palpatine was clearly in a busy and active spaceport.

He pushed the confusion to the back of his mind as the uniformed human in front of him drew his lightsaber and ignited it. The pulsing red blade was leveled at Palpatine.

"Who are you, and how did you... just... do... that?" the human asked. He was sneering, but any kind of menacing image he was trying to project was lost - and indeed made comical - due to his stammering and poorly hidden shock.

Palpatine drew himself up. "I am Emperor Palpatine. I was caught in a Force storm which teleported me here."

The human frowned. "Emperor of which world? Here, stranger, the Sith rule, and you better remember that. And I've never heard of a Force storm." The human began advancing.

That statement did nothing to help Palpatine's puzzlement. Was the human saying he had not even heard of him? A brief probe with the Force showed Palpatine the stranger was speaking honestly. He had no knowledge of an Emperor Palpatine. As for the rest...

"Yes, the Sith rule here. However, I'm curious as to how you do not know me, considering I am Galactic Emperor, the greatest master of the dark side to have ever lived and Dark Lord of the Sith," Palpatine said, his voice deeper with anger.

A look of disgust crossed the stranger's face, as the other people watching backed away. "Haha, think you're funny do you?" the human sneered. And kind of shock at Palpatine's sudden appearance had worn off. "I think I'll kill you just for daring to mock Lord Malak. Besides, you're irritating me." The human advanced with his lightsaber brought up to guard.

Palpatine's confusion built. Darth Malak? He had been a Dark Lord of the Sith in ancient times, who had, along with Darth Revan, formed a new Sith Empire to fight the Galactic Republic and Jedi Order. They had very nearly succeded in conquering the galaxy, but ultimately the old ways of the Sith had proven ineffectual. Infighting had led to the collapse of that Empire, Palpatine knew. Yet this stranger was speaking... he was speaking as if Malak reigned as Dark Lord of the Sith.

As the uniformed human came within meters of the Emperor, Palpatine exposed his full dark side might to the boy rushing at him. It was enough for the young human to stop completely. Palpatine sensed his awe at the power Palpatine had revealed. And then Palpatine unleashed it in a telekinetic wave that swept the human off his feet and flung him down the corridor. Palpatine picked the stranger up with the Force and dragged him towards him, and then passed him, until, turning on one foot, he tossed him casually outside through the opening, until he crashed near the landing ramp of the blue and yellow freighter.

Palpatine briefly considered telekinetically killing the boy, but he wanted answers. And so, as the suddenly not so proud human gasped and tried to pick up his dropped lightsaber, Palpatine gripped him through the Force and dragged him until he came to rest at Palpatine's feet.

Palpatine stood impatiently as the boy struggled to stand. The uniformed human left his lightsaber on the ground, clearly acknowledging defeat. Awe and fear was written all over his face.

"Please, spare me!" he gasped pitifully.

"I have no intention of killing you, boy," Palpatine growled. "I want answers."

The human nodded rapidly. "Of course. I will answer any questions you have. Are you trying to gain entrance to the Sith Academy or something?"

Palpatine frowned.

_Sith Academy?_

No such thing existed. Then again, what was clearly a busy and active spaceport on the tombworld of Korriban didn't exist either.

The human clearly mistook Palpatine's expression for a sign of anger because there was a sudden pulse of fear emanating from him. "I mean, yes, sure... I'll help you with that if you want it."

"Good," Palpatine purred.

"Something up, Shaardan?" A female voice rang out from behind. Palpatine turned. In front of him stood three humans. The speaker, a lithe female a little over twenty five in Palpatine's estimation, with blonde hair tied back in a pony tail. Two bearded men stood behind her. All three wore the same uniforms of who must have been the Shaardan the woman called out to, and all three had lightsabers clipped to their belts. The Force was fairly strong in them; Palpatine sensed the woman was more powerful in the dark side than Shaardan or the two men behind her.

Palpatine felt a spike of anger from the man behind him. "No, nothing," Shaardan sneered.

The woman gave him a dismissive glance and then turned to look at Palpatine. "Doesn't look like nothing. An energy vortex just spat a young man out into the middle of Dreshdae."

_Dreshdae, I know that name. It was a city set up by a large corporation in the days of the ancient Sith Wars._

"So, who are you?" the woman asked, her voice dripping with acidic amusement. "Handsome thing, aren't you? Well, you should know that we here are the Sith, the elite to be trained to serve Darth Malak himself, and we can do anything. If you keep your head down we just might let you live."

Realization began to dawn in Palpatine's mind.

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**Next Chapter:** Palpatine realizes he is 3,556 years in the past. That won't stop him from plotting ultimate domination though! Meanwhile, a certain spaceship falls under attack from a Sith battle fleet.

Please Read and Review! An author thrives on reviews! : )


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